State Senator Calls Dinner Honoring Former CPUC President β€œShameful”

A $250-a-plate dinner is being held in San Francisco to honor former California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey, who is currently the target of a corruption investigation by the state attorney general.

The dinner is scheduled for Thursday night at the Merchants Exchange Building. The invitation to the event said Peevey is being honored for a lifetime of service to the people of California.

State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, calls the dinner for Peevey shameful and an embarrassment to the citizens of California.

"But I think more importantly we should ask the families of those eight individuals who were killed, those eight citizens that I represent in San Bruno who lost their lives because of the negligence in some part by Mr. Peevey that contributed to their deaths," Hill said.

Hill is referring to the investigation that revealed a history of potentially inappropriate communications between Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Peevey, who chaired the agency charged with regulating the utility.

The dinner invitation said proceeds from Thursday's dinner will go to benefit the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Henry Brady, the school's dean, called Peevey a distinguished member of the school's advisory board.

Brady added the allegations of corruption have not been proved and that loyalty and decency dictate that we go forward.

"I just want tonight to be over," Brady said.

San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

"I'm disappointed that they would go forward under such a cloud of difficulty that continues to pervade Mr. Peevey's reputation and that of the PUC," Jackson said.

While the idea for Thursday's dinner came from Susan Kennedy, who until last month was a consultant for PG&E, she said she is no longer working for the utility.

PG&E said it does not know of any employees that are on the guest list for the dinner.

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